Associate Solicitor Katrina London has joined Irwin Mitchell to strengthen its industrial diseases department at the firm’s Manchester office.

Katrina, who joins Irwin Mitchell from John Pickering and Partners, will be involved in the most serious, asbestos related cases, supporting one of the region's top industrial disease lawyers, Geraldine Coombs.

After studying law at Leeds, then taking a year out to teach English at a private language school in Lisbon, Portugal, Katrina qualified at Thompsons in 1989 and was partner at the firm from 1992 until 1999.

Katrina also held senior positions at Russell Jones & Walker and John Pickering and Partners.

Commenting on her appointment, Katrina said: "Irwin Mitchell has an outstanding national reputation for its work in this area and a strong and important presence in Manchester and the North West."

"The industrial diseases team provides an exceptional service to terminally ill and bereaved clients and this is an excellent opportunity for me to work with such leaders in the field."

Since setting up the department three years ago, the team has represented 200 clients with asbestos-related disease in the North West.

In one of the firm's highest ever individual Mesothelioma settlements Geraldine Coombs last year secured a compensation payment of £700,000 from the Ministry of Defence for the widow of a Mesothelioma sufferer.

Grahame Codd, managing partner at the firm, said he and the Personal Injury team as a whole were delighted to welcome Katrina to Irwin Mitchell.